Video Game Addiction and Child Abuse

This story makes me sick.

RENO, Nev. -- A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect.

The children of Michael and Iana Straw, a boy age 22 months and a girl age 11 months, were severely malnourished and near death last month when doctors saw them after social workers took them to a hospital, authorities said. Both children are doing well and gaining weight in foster care, prosecutor Kelli Ann Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Michael Straw, 25, and Iana Straw, 23, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts each of child neglect. Each faces a maximum 12-year prison sentence.

Viloria said the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing "Dungeons & Dragons" series, to give their children proper care.

"They had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games," Viloria told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration.

Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking, investigators said.

As a mother, this is incomprehensible to me.

How could parents neglect their children like this?

It's nauseating.

What an incredible lack of responsibility!

What about compassion?

What about love?

Apparently, Michael and Iana Straw love "Dungeons and Dragons" more than their two babies.

Michael Straw is an unemployed cashier, and his wife worked for a temporary staffing agency doing warehouse work, according to court records. He received a $50,000 inheritance that he spent on computer equipment and a large plasma television, authorities said.

What a self-centered, childish man!

An unemployed cashier with two kids shouldn't be squandering an inheritance on crap for himself.

The AP account of the story ends in a very disturbing manner.

Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is like alcoholism, while others said there was no concrete evidence it's a psychological disease.

Patrick Killen, spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention, said video game addiction's correlation to child abuse is "a new spin on an old problem."

"As we become more technologically advanced, there's more distractions," Killen said. "It's easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children. Whether it's video games or meth, it's a serious issue, and (we) need to become more aware of it."

Yeah, life is tough.

All these technological advances are so distracting that you might forget to care for you children!

Patrick Killen is a spokesman for Nevada Child Abuse Prevention.

Really?

Killen sounds like an apologist for abusers.

He says, "It's easy for someone to get addicted to something and neglect their children."

NO, IT'S NOT.

IT'S NOT EASY TO NEGLECT A CHILD.

Not in my world. Neglecting my children would be the hardest thing in the world to do. Neglecting my pets would be hard to do.

Killen almost seems to be making excuses for the unfathomable.

The poor Straws! They were victims of a disease. They couldn't help themselves. They were addicts so they starved their children.

Right.

They were so sick that their baby girl weighed only TEN POUNDS at 11 months and her hair was matted with cat urine.

Their addiction forced them to let their nearly two-year-old son become so weak that he had trouble walking. They were sick. They had no control. Their addiction was in control.

GIVE ME A BREAK!

Did this couple have any relatives or friends around? Did they see what was happening to the children?

I hope not. I hope no one knew about this. If someone did know and didn't intervene that would be inhumane and inexcusable.

A maximum prison sentence of 12 years isn't much for this degree of abuse to a child.

Read about Nevada's ANIMAL anti-cruelty statutes and punishments here. Violators can end up in prison for up to 6 years.

Bottom line: If the Straws wanted to act like children, then they shouldn't have had children.

I have no sympathy for Michael and Iana Straw.

NONE.